Pamela
A lively, pretty, and courageous maid-servant, age 15, who is subject to the sexual advances of her new Master, Mr. B., following the death of his mother, Lady B. She is a devoted daughter to her impoverished parents, Mr. and Mrs. Andrews, to whom she writes a prodigious number of letters and whom she credits with the moral formation that prompts her to defend her purity at all costs. Pamela resists Mr. B. through the long weeks of his aggression toward her, capitulating neither to his assaults nor to his later tenderness. Though it takes a while for her to admit it, Pamela is attracted to Mr. B. from the first, and gradually she comes to love him. They marry about halfway through the novel, and afterward Pamela’s sweetness and equipoise aid her in securing the goodwill of her new husband’s highborn friends.
Mr. B.
A country squire, 25 or 26 years of age, with properties in Bedfordshire, Lincolnshire, Kent, and London. He is Pamela’s employer, pursuer, and eventual husband. Richardson has censored Mr. B.’s name in order to protect the pretense of non-fiction, but scholars have conjectured based on manuscripts that the novelist had “Brandon” in mind. Mr. B. has rakish tendencies, and he attempts to compel Pamela’s reciprocation of his sexual attentions, even to the point of imprisoning her in his Lincolnshire estate. His fundamental decency prevents him from consummating any of his assaults on her, however, and under her influence he reforms in the middle of the novel.
Lady Davers
The married elder sister of Mr. B. to whom the Squire’s Bedfordshire servants apply when trying to enlist some aid for Pamela. She objects strenuously to the union of her brother with their mother’s waiting-maid, subjecting Pamela to a harrowing afternoon of insults and bullying, but eventually comes to accept and value her new sister-in-law. She once cleaned up after her brother’s affair with Sally Godfrey. Lady Davers is subject to drastic changes in mood, given to alternate between imperious and abject humors, but she is, like her brother, basically decent.
Lady B.
Pamela’s original employer, the mother of Mr. B. and Lady Davers. Lady B. was morally upright and kind to Pamela, educating her and contributing to the formation of her virtuous character. On her deathbed, she told her son to look after all the Bedfordshire servants, especially Pamela.
Mrs. Jewkes
The housekeeper at Mr. B.’s Lincolnshire estate and Pamela’s primary warder during the period of her captivity. Pamela represents her as a brazen villain, physically hideous and sexually ambiguous, though the hyperbolic attributions of depravity may be Pamela’s way of deflecting blame from Mr. B., about whom her feelings are more conflicted. Mrs. Jewkes is devoted to her Master, to a fault: she is as ready to commit a wrong in his service, not excluding assisting in an attempted rape of Pamela, as she is to wait loyally on that same Pamela once Mr. B. has decided to elevate and marry her.
Mrs. Jervis
The elderly housekeeper of Mr. B.’s Bedfordshire estate, one of the virtuous servants who applies to Lady Davers on behalf of Pamela. She has a genteel background and is an able manager, presumably the linchpin of the well-ordered Bedfordshire household. Despite her good nature and her motherly concern for Pamela, however, she is nearly useless in defending her young friend from their Master’s lecherous advances.
Mr. John Andrews
Pamela’s father and her chief correspondent. He is virtuous and literate like his daughter, formerly the master of a school, though his fortunes have since declined and he is now an agricultural laborer. He had two sons, now dead, who pauperized him before dying. Pamela credits both her parents with forming her character by educating her in virtue and giving her an example of honest, cheerful poverty.
Mrs. Elizabeth Andrews
Pamela’s mother, who has no independent presence in the novel.
Mr. Williams
The curate (junior pastor) of Mr. B.’s parish in Lincolnshire. Pamela engages his assistance in her efforts to escape her captivity, and she finds him dutiful but ineffectual; he makes an unsuccessful bid to become Pamela’s husband, and his efforts on her behalf come decisively to naught when Mr. B. sends him to debtor’s prison. Overall, he is meritorious but scarcely appealing, and he suffers from his position as the suitor whom no one takes seriously. Mr. B.’s drawn-out preoccupation with his “rival” Williams only serves to keep the latter’s risibility in view.
Monsieur Colbrand
The monstrous Swiss man whom Mr. B. sends to Lincolnshire to keep watch over Pamela. Like Mrs. Jewkes, he becomes Pamela’s ally after the Squire’s reformation.
Jackey
Lady Davers’s nephew, who accompanies her to Mr. B.’s estate in Lincolnshire and aids her in browbeating Pamela. He exemplifies what Richardson sees as the aristocratic impulse toward sexual exploitation of social inferiors, though he is quicker than his aunt in perceiving Pamela’s innate respectability.
Beck Worden
Lady Davers’s waiting-maid, who attends her at Mr. B.’s estate in Lincolnshire and aids in the persecution of the newly married Pamela.
John Arnold
A footman at the Bedfordshire estate. In the early stages of the novel he delivers Pamela’s letters to and from her parents, and Pamela appreciates his cheerfulness is performing this service. After her abduction, however, he sends her a note confessing that he has allowed Mr. B. to read all of the correspondence between Pamela and her parents. He has been torn between his duty to Mr. B. and the promptings of his conscience, and the result is that he comes into conflict with both Pamela and Mr. B. The Squire dismisses him, but after the marriage, Pamela has him reinstated.
Mr. Longman
The steward at the Bedfordshire estate, one of the virtuous servants who applies to Lady Davers on behalf of Pamela. He admires Pamela and supplies her with the abundant writing materials that allow her to continue her journal during her captivity in Lincolnshire.
Mr. Jonathan
The butler at the Bedfordshire estate, one of the virtuous servants who applies to Lady Davers on behalf of Pamela.
Nan (or Ann)
A servant-girl at the Lincolnshire estate. Mrs. Jewkes gets her drunk and Mr. B. impersonates her on the night of his last attempt on Pamela’s virtue.
Sally Godfrey
Mr. B.’s mistress from his college days. She bore him a child, the future Miss Goodwin, and then fled to Jamaica, where she is now happily married.
Miss Goodwin
Mr. B.’s illegitimate daughter by Sally Godfrey. She lives at a boarding school in Bedfordshire and does not know who her parents are; she addresses Mr. B. as her “uncle.”
Sir Simon Darnford
A noble neighbor of Mr. B. in Lincolnshire. He refuses to help Pamela when Mr. Williams applies to him but comes to admire her after her elevation by Mr. B. He is given to dirty jokes.
Lady Darnford
The wife of Sir Simon Darnford.
Miss Darnford (the elder)
The first daughter of Sir Simon and Lady Darnford. She once had hopes of marrying Mr. B., but she accepts Pamela’s triumph sportingly.
Miss Darnford (the younger)
The second daughter of Sir Simon and Lady Darnford. She joins her sister in demanding a ball to commemorate the nuptials of Pamela and Mr. B.
Mr. Peters
The vicar of Mr. B.’s parish in Lincolnshire. He refuses to help Pamela when Mr. Williams applies to him but eventually gives Pamela away at her wedding.
Mrs. Peters
The wife of Mr. Peters.
Lady Jones
A noble neighbor of Mr. B. in Lincolnshire.
Mr. Perry
A genteel neighbor of Mr. B. in Lincolnshire.
Mr. Martin
A genteel but rakish neighbor of Mr. B. in Bedfordshire. Pamela dislikes him due to his penchant for saying cynical things about married life.
Mr. Arthur
A genteel neighbor of Mr. B. in Bedfordshire.
Mrs. Arthur
The wife of Mr. Arthur.
Mr. Towers
A genteel neighbor of Mr. B. in Bedfordshire.
Lady Towers
A renowned “wit,” the wife of Mr. Towers.
Mr. Brooks
A genteel neighbor of Mr. B. in Bedfordshire.
Mrs. Brooks
The wife of Mr. Brooks.
Mr. Chambers
A genteel neighbor of Mr. B. in Bedfordshire.
Mrs. Chambers
The wife of Mr. Chambers.
Mr. Carlton
An acquaintance of Mr. B. in Lincolnshire who dies shortly after the wedding. His distress at the end motivates Mr. B. to make arrangements that will provide for Pamela in the event of his early death.
Farmer Nichols’s wife and daughters
Neighbors in Bedfordshire from whom Pamela buys material to make a gown and petticoats.
A gypsy fortune-teller
The agent who delivers to Pamela a note from Mr. Longman warning her of Mr. B.’s plans for a sham-marriage.
Rachel, Cicely, and Hannah
Maidservants at the Bedfordshire estate.
Harry, Isaac, and Benjamin
Manservants at the Bedfordshire estate.
Richard, Roger, and Thomas
Grooms at the Bedfordshire estate.
Robin
The coachman at the Lincolnshire estate.
Abraham
A footman at the Bedfordshire estate.
Miss Dobson
Miss Goodwin’s governess at the boarding school.
Miss Booth, Miss Burdoff, and Miss Nugent
Peers of Miss Goodwin at the boarding school.
